Little Amal: Giant puppet visits Ukrainian child refugees in Poland

Little Amal is in Poland visiting Ukrainian child refugees

Little Amal - the giant puppet of a 9-year-old Syrian girl - has travelled to Poland to meet children who have fled the war in Ukraine.

Designed as part of a project aimed at raising awareness of the difficulties faced by child refugees, last year Little Amal made headlines by walking 5,000 miles from Turkey to the UK.

She is now in the central European country, visiting newly arrived children and families, as well as refugees on the Poland-Ukraine border.

The 3.5m tall puppet was invited to Poland by the mayors of two cities - Lublin and Kraków - to share the message: "Don't forget about us."

Amal's name means 'hope' in Arabic

In 2021, Little Amal set off from near the Turkish-Syrian border, walking across eight European countries, before finishing her journey in Manchester in the north-west of England.

The journey represented the stories of the millions of young refugees who are forced to leave their homes and often travel alone without their parents.

She has now visited three cities in Poland, bringing with her aid packages for young children that were collected in the UK.

Wojciech Bakun, the mayor of Przemyśl said he was "very happy" that Little Amal was visiting his city.

He added: "Her visit in the border town next to the country at war will be a symbol of calling for peace, tranquillity and humanity."

Amal visited Przemyśl train station, where many Ukrainians arrive at when they first cross into Poland

The giant puppet has been made by the same people who worked on the horse puppet for the theatre production of War Horse.

Called The Handspring Puppet Company, it takes four puppeteers to animate Little Amal.

One for each arm, one for her back, and one actor inside her body, walking on stilts and also operating a contraption called "the harp," a complex system of strings that control the puppet's facial expressions.